Not really, the lightsource is typically a halogen light that is routed through the Liquid Crystal Display and then to you. Plasma would be the only one where you are looking directly at the display source.

Well that depends on your definition of it. In general, direct view means any display that doesn't involve you looking at a reflection of another light source, or some kind of shade that sits between the light source and the viewer, which is what any projected display is going to have. LCD fits under the common definition of direct view (except projection LCD which is a different thing.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lyme

The pixel size on a 1:1 LCD and 1:1 DLP of the same size, is rougly the same size.

Huh? That was in response to something specific to LCD, I am not sure what your comparison is here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lyme

I don't find that to be as true as it once was. Rear projection tv's were horrible in daylight and still are. DLP sets are quite comparable to both LCD and Plasma. When I say DLP, I specifically mean the sets that have the Toshiba Digital Light Projection engine in them, and not the comparable ones by Sony or other manufacturers.

I haven't yet seen any DLP setups in the mid to low price range that beat similarly priced LCD's in this area.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lyme

It is rated at 8,000 hours and the LED ones are rated even longer. However that being said, while real world tests and statistical analysis can give you a general indicator of how long something likely should last, this indicatore does not infer how long something will actually last. As such my dlp set bought in 2004 is still on the same bulb and we use it significantly more than eight hours a day, every day.

It is safe to list the lamp life for most DLP front and rear projection televisions between 1000 and 2000 hours. I know that’s a cop out, but it’s hard to nail down a direct length of time. Some lamps might last only 500 hours while others may last 3000 hours. The window is so broad because no one knows for sure how long one lamp will last versus another. They’re like light bulbs, and depending on how you use them, some will just last longer.

To put it simply, if you watched television three hours a day the lamp would last approximately 333 days at the 1000-hour lamp life and 666 days at the 2000-hour lamp life. That’s pretty realistic because most people will want/need to replace their lamp every 1-2 years, but there are stories of people replacing a lamp every 6-8 months or every 3-4 years.

How do I know when it is time to replace my lamp?

Trust me, you’ll know. The screen will lose its brightness and appear dim. You won’t necessarily have to replace the lamp when you notice the dimming. Some people might wait until the bitter end to install a new lamp while others will have one in reserve waiting for the screen to dim. It’s a matter of choice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Am_I_Evil

where do you come up with these numbers?

See above, but that is by far not the first place I have heard this from.